On the Way to the Wedding
by chickay
Summary: Drabbles. Because after two lifetimes, Usagi and Mamoru are finally getting married...and the bridesmaids and groomsmen just want it to be over with already. 1/6: The Maid of Honor. 'When Romeo and Juliet exchange their rings, the Father nudges her with a wry, sinful smile that does not belong on any man of the cloth...'
1. The Proposal

**The Proposal**

* * *

It was supposed to be a _very_ simple trip. More like a vacation actually.

Earth was joining the Silver Alliance and its nearest neighbor (and the Alliance's ruling body) had personally extended an invitation to the planet for Queen Serenity's Silver Jubilee celebration. They were supposed to show up, drink with the rulers of the galaxy, dance with beautiful women from nine other planets, and represent their own planet by exuding dignity and respect at all times.

Instead, their crown prince had barely bowed to the Queen before practically stumbling halfway up the dais to an equally-mesmerized Princess Serenity. Years later, the happy couple will call that moment, "_Love at first sight_."

Everyone else will remember it as, "_That time we almost destroyed the palace and nearly killed each other._"

Endymion's foot had just grazed the first step when Venus, vigilant and quick as every, shrieked and sent out a beautiful gold chain made of barbed light aiming to wrap around his waist to hold him away from her charge...instead finding itself wrapped around Kunzite's sword as the general guarded his liege. As Endymion moved up to the next step, Nephrite sent out a solar flare to knock the leader of the senshi on her ass...right before Sailor Jupiter grabbed Venus' falling chain and hurled down a vicious lightning bolt through it, shocking Kunzite's sword with such insane ferocity that it sent him flying, taking Nephrite and part of the delegation from Mercury down with him.

As Jupiter charged for another bolt, this time to incapacitate Endymion, Jadeite fired a beam from his palm, catching Jupiter right between the eyes...on her tiara...as she was charging. Jadeite will later admit that he did _not _time that moment very well. The air crackled for a second before violent green streaks lighting flew off to every direction, striking the floors, the columns and a _very _unfortunate representative from Venus.

Amongst the terrified and scandalized screams of the court, Mars had summoned her bow, sending one flaming arrow into Jadeite's arm and another one aimed for Endymion's foot (Just to stop him, she swore) as it landed on the third step. Instead of lighting the Earth prince's foot on fire, however, it was stopped short by a shield of razor-sharp blossoms that Zoicite then redirected at the High Priestess of Mars' pretty face. Mercury intervened then, freezing the blossoms in midair before they could shred her sister-senshi's body, and then redirecting the shards at Endymion who, amazingly enough, remained handsomely oblivious as he continued to gravitate towards the equally clueless Serenity as though their closest protectors and friends weren't starting an interplanetary incident around them.

Jadeite practically sprinted to his Prince's side, cleanly swiping Mercury's projectiles in one swift slash of his sword. He turned to Endymion to try to talk some sense to his seemingly-hypnotized friend as Mars nicked another arrow, this time aiming for the Earthlings' heads, "Diplomacy be damned." She declared even as Mercury let out a strangled cry and moved to tug at her sister senshi's arm before one of her best friends actually killed a member of a dignitary party, let alone-

"Endy!" Jadeite yelled, "Snap out of-"

Mercury's tug had damaged Mars' aim and Jadeite actually _yelped_ when the fiery arrow lodged into his ass, falling to the ground in pain.

"Gods you're amazing." Endymion blurted out to Serenity, stepping over Jadeite's writhing body, "**Will you marry me**?"

Princess Serenity of the Moon let out a breathy little laugh and said, to the horror of ten planets, "**Of course I will**!"

Needless to say, the throne room erupted into the greatest chaos that any of the planets had ever witnessed.

Well, except Chaos itself, of course.

...

But this _did_ come pretty close.

* * *

**chickay**: I own nothing.


	2. The Venue

**The Venue**

* * *

The fork paused midway to Makoto's mouth, the pasta dangling precariously for a moment before it gave up, falling from the utensil and onto Mako's ample bosom. Ami had choked on her wine and promptly started drowning in her own alcohol. Mercifully, Rei eventually recovered from her shock and began slapping Ami's back like a mad, black woman on Jerry Springer. Ever the epitome of beauty and grace, Minako managed to find her voice first despite a mouthful of food, spewing chunks of garlic bread in every direction when she sputtered,

"Y-you want to do the wedding **_where_**?"

"In the Moon Palace." Usagi repeated, like holding a ceremony in ruined kingdom on another (dead) planet was no biggie.

"Y-you do understand that it _doesn't exist_ anymore right?" Ami coughed when she could finally breathe. "I mean, we all took the same mystical teleportation trip together and saw the same thing right?"

"Are you referring to the destroyed wasteland in outer-_freaking-_space that apparently Usagi wants to get married in?" Rei drawled, "Yeah, that sounds vaguely familiar…"

"I think it'd be kind of romantic." Usagi said dreamily.

"_Very_ romantic." Minako agreed sarcastically. "Until the guests die because space kind of lacks, you know...**_oxygen_**!"

"And that's **_if_** they even survive the trip." Mako finally threw in, swiping fettuccini from her chest. "Altogether, the five of us _barely_ scrounged enough magic to teleport to the Antarctic!"

"And can we please not forget that the last time we went to the Moon," Rei said darkly, "Your life was in mortal danger and your _dead_; I repeat:" She cupped her hands around her mouth, "**DEAD****! DEMI-GODDESS** mother had to _literally_ reach beyond the magical grave to get us there."

"Usa," Ami rubbed her temples, "That's not really the kind of place you can book online..."

"Well of course it's not, silly!" Usagi laughed as if her friends were the one with the crazy idea. "Which is why it'll be just us. Mamo-chan and I, and all of us from the Silver Millenium. We have a better handle on the Silver and Golden Crystals now, and between us and all of your shared powers, we should be able to teleport the others in one, non-bloody, piece.

"It'll just be a small ceremony, done in Lunar traditions before we do one down here on Earth with our other, non-alien/magical/reincarnated friends." Usagi continued, laughing when she saw that everyone else looked surprise that she was making sense.

"That's...actually very...practical." Rei said after a moment.

"And logical." Ami threw in, proud that Usagi actually put some thought into this idea. "We hadn't taken into consideration how much we've grown since our last visit."

"So you agree then?" Usagi said excitedly. "You'll all come with?"

"As long as we manage not to kill each other when we teleport," Mako said dryly, smiling, "I'm sure it'll be wonderful."

"Oh, that's great." Usagi grew wistful. "We just really wanted to get married the way we had wanted to back in our past lives. Having all of you by my side," She gestured misty-eyed around the table before dropping the bomb,

"And of course, having the Shittenou next to Mamo's."

No one quite remembers which of them rage-flipped the table after that, but they were pretty much banned from eating there again.

* * *

**chickay: **So I guess this is something I'm going to be doing now? Because I love weddings and Sailor Moon. And because writing Cupid's Last is like banging my head on the keyboard and wishing the plot writes itself.


	3. The Bouquet

**The Bouquet**

Roses couldn't grow on the moon.

No Earth flowers could, for that matter. Or at least not for very long. Daisies and irises and such managed to survive maybe a day or three in Lunarian soil before dying off, but roses? Jupiter herself had given up trying to cultivate them altogether.

Serenity had originally thought it was because she lacked a green thumb that explained why all the roses she brought from the Earth refused to flourish. Even placed in Terran soil in a vacuum-sealed case wasn't enough to save them. Endymion had even given Serenity a satchel of seeds for her garden, but the poor things shriveled up within hours of being placed in the soil.

Mercury was intrigued, largely because it didn't make a lot of sense.

"The Moon is the ruling body of the Alliance and the home for the Silver Crystal." She reasoned, lightly touching the dried husk of a once-beautiful rose and watching a dead, stiff petal fall to the floor. "It's basically _the_ planet for magic and life and yet, for some reason, it can't sustain even one little flower."

The best Lunar scientists could do were artificial flora. Their most popular creations were the artificial roses, flowers genetically modified to look and smell much like the ones that the Princess had been so enamored with lately, that came in array of colors not found on Earth, with petals that glittered and centers that blossomed around pearls. They became all the rage on the Moon, but Serenity's inner circle was acutely aware that these roses, though a lovely invention, paled in comparison to the ones that seemed to bloom everywhere when Serenity transported to Earth.

"Huh." Was all General Zoicite said when Mercury mentioned it to him. Several paces ahead of them were Endymion and Serenity, walking much more closely than they probably should, but Shitennou and Senshi alike had gotten used to this.

"What?"

"Nothing."

Mercury huffed and narrowed her eyes at his flippant tone.

"You're lying."

She said it so petulantly that Zoicite laughed. She really was adorable at times.

"What's so funny?" She demanded.

"They're the Royal Family's symbol." He grinned. Gesturing to his sword, on which had a multi-petaled rose emblazoned on it, he chastised her, "Surely you didn't think we carried its image around just because they're pretty."

And really, it did make a lot of sense. So much so that Mercury felt like an idiot for not making that connection sooner, considering that the flower was even carved on the shields of the generals.

"Still," She hummed, coming to a stop as their charges halted their walk and sat on a bench (again, sitting _much_ more closely than she really should've let them). "Jupiter has brought plants and _whole trees_ from her home planet and every one of them manages to flourish, even if they need to be placed in the greenhouse. And even some Earth flowers can survive for a very short while. Just because the rose is the Royal Family's flower doesn't explain why they can't live on the Moon for even a day."

"Maybe it does." Zoicite said, watching as Endymion tucked a strand of Serenity's hair behind her ear. Leaning toward her as if sharing a secret, he smiled crookedly and whispered, "Maybe, much like your Lunarian society, even the Moon itself rejects being invaded by a little Royal Earthling, no matter how beautiful and harmless it is."

[_She haphazardly thinks of his words months later when she's pouring blood from the cuts he's carved all over her body. She turns her blood to ice in order to stay alive and freezes him solid in the end, shattering his icy statue on the battlefield._]

Ami Mizuno remembers this conversation lifetimes later, when she picks up her bouquet of white roses and immediately pricks herself on a wayward thorn.

"Not so harmless, are you?" She mutters idly to the blossoms as she turns to assess her hand. Long, thick fingers reach out to wrap around her wrist before she can react and Zeke is suddenly at her side, pressing his warm lips to the wound and kissing the injury away like he's done it a thousand times before. He doesn't look at her flowers as he quietly insists,

"But still so beautiful."

* * *

**chickay**: /apologizes a thousand times/ Perhaps my New Year's Resolution can be to post things more frequently rather than waiting actual years to do so? Ahhh~!


	4. The Maid of Honor

**The Maid of Honor**

_"The worst part of holding the memories is not the pain. It's the loneliness of it." - _Lois Lowry_, _The Giver_  
_

* * *

It's like a nightmare she constantly wakes up from. But instead of jolting her from her sleep every night, it happens every time she turns 5 years old.

Instead of a nightmare making her scream awake, it's her past life on another planet that terrorizes her back to reality. The blurry, muffled dreams become her memories in 1080HD and surround sound. And the full, IMAX-quality brunt of her legacy, her sisters, and her greatest failure destroy her old, tattered soul like a bomb exploding from inside her head.

Like in all her previous incarnations, Venus finds her way to her charge, and she hopes and prays that this time (this life) will be different. And it is…in a sense.

This time, their names are Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet instead of Endymion and Serenity. This time, it's a city called Padua instead of the Moon Kingdom. This time, they're mortals without a shred of power instead of the royal heirs of their respective worlds.

They marry in a tiny chapel under cover of night. Venus is one of the witnesses to the marriage and the other is the priest, a young man with short-cropped silver hair whom Romeo trusts with his life.

(Her heart actually stops when she escorts Juliet to the ceremony because Venus can't see the holy man at the altar, only Kunzite, Kunzite, **_her_** Kunzite. He, however, only sees Juliet's Nurse. Her beloved can't recognize her and it crushes her already-tattered soul...but it doesn't stop him from furtively glancing at her during the ceremony like he's trying to place her in a memory/dream he's had but lost.)

When Romeo and Juliet exchange their rings, the Father nudges her with a wry, _sinful_ smile that does not belong on _any_ man of the cloth (but is _very_ reminiscent of a teasing general she still dreams of).

"Breathe," He whispers to her and she flushed, letting out the breath she didn't realize she was holding.

As the star-crossed couple shares their first married kiss (of _this_ life), Venus allows herself to think,

_'Maybe. __**Maybe it will be different this time**__.'_

But she should've known better because, no matter how much has changed, some things remain the same:

They still stand on opposite sides of a conflict they want no part of. They still fall quickly, madly, rather stupidly in love with each other. And that same endless, horrible love still leads to bloodshed and death.

Their families blame it on old grudges and new mutiny, but they can't see what Venus sees; the dark energy swirling everywhere in the city, almost suffocating her every time she breathes. Metallia doesn't show herself, probably still too weak to take action, but her presence continues to follow their reincarnations like the demonic parasite she is. The Silver Crystal will not be summoned, Venus' powers refuse to awaken, and her own sisters don't recognize her when all she wants to do is cry on their shoulders like before.

It takes Venus a few more lifetimes to grasp that this is all because Fate has yet to set the stage for their final battle. It's a painful, jarring realization: that this lifetime _may_ be different than the last, but it is not _the_ last lifetime they must endure.

And so, as in her nightmares and past, Venus stands at the side and watches helplessly as Serenity/Juliet/her sister/her friend/her princess stabs herself over her lover's lifeless body. This has happened before, but Venus still screams and cries because it will happen again and again and she is terrified that she will still not be able to do anything to stop it from happening when the cycle repeats itself…

* * *

Chiba Mamoru marries Tsukino Usagi on a fine, spring day while Aino Minako holds the bride's bouquet of red roses.

This time, they are in Toyko, Japan. This time, they (mercifully) don't fall in love at first sight. This time, their families aren't royalty, nor do they want to kill each other (thank goodness!). This time Beryl is dead (_really_ dead), Metallia is gone (_sooo super-__**duper **_gone), and her sisters stand beside her at the altar, memories and powers intact. Venus' loved ones are alive and well and it's all she's asked (begged) for in a hundred lifetimes.

When Mamoru slides the gold band over Usagi's finger, Minako catches Kunzite's eye, standing beside his liege as always. He subtly gestured at her with one hand moving towards himself, his chest expanding, silently urging her,

**_Breathe._**

She blushes, caught, and the breath she had been holding (for centuries) is let out in an embarrassed chuckle. He smiles at her crookedly (sinfully) and she blames the quickening of her heartbeat on the loud, abrupt cheers of the congregation when the groom (finally!) kisses his bride.

(And again, she is reminded that no matter how much has changed, some things will _always _remain the same.)

* * *

**chickay**: First off, apologies for the structure. When SMCrystal revealed that Minako had retained her memories of the Silver Millennium, I wondered if this current-day reincarnation wasn't the first one everyone had been through. My wondering then barfed this up. Enjoy.


End file.
